The present invention relates to a method capable of efficiently detecting an exopolysaccharide, and, in particular, a method for detecting an exopolysaccharide comprising contacting a sample containing an exopolysaccharide (EPS) with (i) a lectin capable of binding specifically to the exopolysaccharide and (ii) a labeled lectin capable of binding specifically to the exopolysaccharide, and detecting an exopolysaccharide bound to both the lectin of (i) and the labeled lectin of (ii), using a label of the labeled lectin.

Methods and systems for measuring the concentration of LAL-reactive substances in fluid samples is provided. They include contacting an aqueous sample with a detection reagent to form a prepared sample. A physical property of the prepared sample may be measured to obtain at least one sample measurement characteristic of the prepared sample. Curve fitting may then be used to forecast a concentration of the LAL-reactive substance the aqueous sample will have at a specified time in the future based on the sample measurement and a correlation developed between at least one standard measurement of a physical quality of a solution with a known concentration of a LAL-reactive substance therein. The quality of the sample measurement may be validated using historical data and/or the standard measurement.

Aluminum coated glass slides provide a novel glycan array platform. Specifically, aluminum coated glass slides increase sensitivity of fluorescent based assay methods. Additionally, aluminum coated glass slides allows for mass spectroscopic analysis of carbohydrates and provide a platform for examining activity of cellulases. The unique properties of ACG slides include: 1) the metal oxide layer on the surface can be activated for grafting organic compounds such as modified oligosaccharides; 2) the surface remains electrically conductive, and the grafted oligosaccharides can be simultaneously characterized by mass spectrometry and carbohydrate-binding assay; and 3) the slides are more sensitive than transparent glass slides in binding analysis.

Provided is a method for efficiently analyzing the structure of a sialylated glycan, including the linkage type of a sialic acid linked to a terminal of the glycan. After the sialic acid residues in a sample (glycan) to be analyzed are modified in a linkage-type-specific way (S2), a mass spectrum for the sample is obtained by mass spectrometry (S3). Based on the masses of the modified glycans estimated from the m/z values of the peaks observed on the mass spectrum, all possible monosaccharide compositions are exhaustively estimated under specific conditions including the kinds of monosaccharides and the range of the number of occurrences of each monosaccharide (S4). Monosaccharide composition candidates listed for each peak are narrowed down by using the mass difference between different modifications of a sialic acid residue generated by the linkage-type-specific modification (S5). Specifically, peaks whose mass differences correspond to the mass difference between different modifications of the sialic acid residue generated by the linkage-type-specific modification are located and assumed as a cluster of peaks originating from the same glycan including linkage isomers. For each peak belonging to this cluster, the corresponding monosaccharide composition candidates are narrowed down by excluding candidates that do not satisfy specific conditions, such as the presence or absence of a modified sialic acid residue and the number of occurrences of the modified sialic acid residue.

The present disclosure is directed dye compounds containing a hydrazinyl substituent and optionally, one or more negatively charged groups, such as sulfonate, phosphate, phosphonate, and/or carboxylate groups and dye compounds containing an aminooxy substitutent. The compounds are useful in the detection of analytes containing aldehyde and ketone groups, including, for example, glycans.

The present invention discloses a method of determining the presence of autoimmune disease with the use of glycan biomarkers. A method of improving the detection sensitivity of trace glycans from a mixture of glycans and a microfluidic chip therefor are also disclosed.

The present disclosure relates to compositions, kits and methods for preparing and/or analysing biological samples from a subject. These compositions, kits and methods may be useful in applications, such as diagnosing cancer and/or or determining a prognosis therefor.

A method, including (a) providing an array of extant glycans or glycoconjugates, wherein the array comprises a plurality of addresses, wherein different extant glycans or glycoconjugates are attached to different addresses of the array; (b) contacting the array with a plurality of different probes, the different probes recognizing different carbohydrate moieties; (c) detecting positive recognition outcomes of the plurality of different probes at individual addresses of the array, thereby producing outcome profiles for the addresses; (d) providing a database comprising a set of candidate glycans or glycoconjugates, the database comprising, for each candidate glycan or glycoconjugate, the probability of a positive recognition outcome for the plurality of different probes; and (e) determining with a computer, using the database and the outcome profiles, candidate glycans or glycoconjugates in the database corresponding to different extant glycans or glycoconjugates in the array.

There is provided a method of detecting in a sample the presence of an anti-M and/or anti-A and/or anti-C/Y antibody, the method comprising contacting the sample with a diagnostic conjugate provided according to the invention, comprising an oligosaccharide which comprises at least two units of 4,6-dideoxy-4-acylamido--pyranose and comprising at least one -(1-3)- link between adjacent 4,6-dideoxy-4-acylamido--pyranose units, in which the carbon at position 5 in the pyranose is linked to an R group, where R is independently selected from CH.sub.2OH, H or an alkyl group having at least one C atom, the oligosaccharide being covalently linked to a non-saccharide molecule or to a surface.

A centripetal microfluidic platform comprised of a microfluidics disc and a reader for testing LAL-reactive substances in fluid samples is provided. The microfluidic disc may comprise at least two testing areas wherein each testing area includes a reservoir portion for receiving at least one fluid sample. The disc may comprise a distribution network portion in fluid communication with the reservoir portion. Each distribution network portion may comprise a distribution network of at least four (4) channels, wherein each channel has a metering portion and at least one analysis chamber portion. The analysis chamber portion may comprise a mixing chamber for mixing samples and reagents and an optical chamber portion that is compatible with an optical reader. The metering portion may be sized to meter an aliquot of the fluid sample for analysis in the analysis chamber portion. At least one analysis chamber portion has at least one reagent isolated therein. The centripetal microfluidic platform further includes a reader for testing fluid samples within a microfluidic disc comprising an enclosure, an optical bench, a centripetal disc drive, and a controller. A method for testing at least one fluid sample for LAL-reactive substances is also provided.